E-2 Visa Secrets: How Much Do Canadians REALLY Need to Invest in the U.S.?

Transcript:

How much do I need to invest? If you’re a Canadian thinking about opening, purchasing, or expanding a business to the US, that’s probably the number one question you’ve asked. And right behind it, how many employees do I need to hire? I hear these questions almost every day, and most Canadians are surprised when I tell them that the regulations don’t specify a minimum investment amount, and they don’t require a specific number of employees either.

In fact, I’ve seen investors spend well over $100,000 and still run into issues, while other investors with substantially smaller investments obtain approvals. Why? Because successful E-2 applicants understand what the government is actually looking for when it evaluates E-2 investor visa applications. So if you’re wondering, how much should I invest?

How many employees do I need? What documents will I need? Is the E-2 visa the right option for me? And can it eventually lead to a green card? You’re in the right place. By the end of this video, you’ll have a practical roadmap to help you determine whether you’re on the right track before you invest your hard-earned money. Before we get started, my name is Gabriella Agostinelli, partner at Berardi Immigration Law.

Our firm has spent more than 2 decades helping Canadians work, invest, and immigrate to the United States, and we focus heavily on cross-border immigration between Canada and the US. If you find this content helpful, please subscribe to our channel, like this video, and share it with another Canadian who’s considering investing south of the border. It really helps us create practical immigration content and bring you updates about US immigration law.

Now, let’s talk about what actually determines whether an E-2 visa succeeds. At its core, the E-2 visa allows citizens of treaty countries to invest in and direct a business in the US. For Canadians, this is one of the most attractive visa categories available because Canada has a long-standing treaty relationship with the United States that permits E-2 investor visas. We regularly work with Canadians who are purchasing existing US businesses, acquiring franchises, opening consulting firms, starting service-based businesses, or those who are expanding Canadian companies into the US market.

One of the reasons the E-2 remains so popular is because it offers flexibility that many other visa categories simply don’t. Unlike some other immigration options, there is no annual lottery, there is no degree requirement, there is no extraordinary ability standard, there’s no fixed investment amount written into the regulations. And as long as the business continues to qualify, the E-2 can generally be renewed indefinitely.

here’s the question: What makes an E-2 visa approvable? When I’m evaluating whether a Canadian investor has a strong E-2 case, there are several key factors I look at. first, are you a Canadian citizen? This one’s easy. The E-2 is based on nationality. The good news is Canadian citizens qualify because Canada is an E-2 treaty country.

Great. second, are you investing in a real business? The government expects to see a real commercial enterprise. This could be a startup, a franchise, a purchased business, a newly established company, a US branch of an existing Canadian operation. The idea of the business alone is not enough. The government wants to see an actual business that’s capable of operating and generating revenue.

Next question: Is your investment substantial? What brings us back to the most common question, how much do I need to invest? The answer is one many people don’t expect. Do you know there’s no minimum investment amount in the regulations? Let me repeat that. There is no requirement, despite what you read online, that says you need to invest $100,000 or $2five0,000. There is no requirement that says you need to invest any specific amount at all.

Instead, E-2 applicants are evaluated using what’s called a proportionality test. In simple terms, the government looks at whether the amount you’ve invested is substantial relative to the total cost of establishing or acquiring that particular business. So for example, a consulting firm may require significantly less startup capital than a manufacturing company, but a franchise may require significantly more capital than a service business.

With that said, at Berardi Immigration Law, as a practical matter, we generally like to see at least $70,000 invested before filing an E-2 case. However, that is not a legal requirement. Some businesses may justify less. I’ve seen stories where people have gotten E-2s on as little as $10,000 invested, but this should be the exception, not the rule.

You know, many businesses require substantially more investment, but the key question is, have you invested enough money to demonstrate a genuine commitment to making the business successful? Put otherwise, do you have enough skin in the game? That’s what they’re asking.

Next, is the investment actually at risk? This is a point many Canadians misunderstand. Simply showing money sitting in a Canadian bank account is generally not enough. The government wants to see that you’ve committed the funds to the business. So examples include business acquisitions, franchise fees, equipment purchases, office build-outs, commercial leases, inventory, marketing expenses, startup costs. The money should be committed to the business and placed at risk.

Okay? Here’s a big one. Is the business more than marginal? This is where the hiring discussion comes into play. The government wants to see a business that has the capacity to contribute economically and grow over time. Why is that? Well, let’s, let’s go back to the very basics of this category. There’s two things that the government wants to see.

They wanna see that you’ve brought investment to the US through this visa and that you’ve brought jobs to the US. here’s the question we always get. As stated earlier, how many employees do I need to hire? Now, the answer to this might also surprise you. There is no minimum employee requirement in the regulations, but employment growth is often one of the ways that investors demonstrate that the business is having an economic impact.

As a practical matter, we’d love to see a business creating jobs and growing during its initial period of E-2 status. And ideally, after your first five years, we’d like to see several full-time employees on your payroll. In many instances, having approximately five employees or more puts you in a much stronger position. But let’s talk about reality.

Not every business performs exactly the way the original business plan predicted. We’ve had clients who did not hit their projected hiring targets but still obtained approvals because we were able to demonstrate the bigger picture. So for example, is the company in a better position today than it was a year ago? Has revenue increased? Have sales improved? Has the client base expanded? Has the company become more stable? Has the business adapted?

Sometimes businesses pivot, market conditions change. Hello, COVID, anyone? Consumer demand changes, economic circumstances change. Showing that the company recognized challenges and adapted can be very persuasive. I mean, think of all the companies that these, uh, tariffs affected. Many companies who had not seen that coming had to definitely change what their business plan was.

And when things like this happen, in my experience, the government tends to understand. As long as you have a path forward when it comes to renewing your visa, the government is willing to give you a little bit of leeway with that. So another big question is: Do you have a credible growth plan? The government wants to know what comes next.

So in every successful filing, we include a business plan that shows things like hiring plans, expansion opportunities, new contracts, strategic growth, uh, initiatives. If you haven’t hired employees during that initial five-year, or however many year depending on which country you’re from, but for Canadians, it’s five years. If you haven’t hired anyone in that initial five-year period, the government will look at, for your renewal, have you used contractors? Have you used vendors?

Not every successful business builds a large W-2 workforce because some rely heavily on independent contractors, consultants, marketing agencies, professional service providers, and that economic activity still matters. Going to the overall arching question of bringing jobs and investment to the US, has the business contributed to the local economy? Have you leased office space, purchased inventory, used local accountants, worked with local vendors, paid service providers?

These expenditures create economic activity and should be considered when evaluating your E-2 renewal. The question, is the company active?, is one of the biggest factors we focus on for E-2 renewals. Even if a business hasn’t met every projection, immigration officers want to see that it hasn’t become dormant. An active company that’s investing, operating, adapting, and trying to grow is often in a much stronger position than a company that’s simply sitting What do you need to document for your first E-2 application?

A great E-2 case is a really well-documented case, so there’s a whole list of things. Giddy up, everyone. You will generally need to show corporate documents, business licenses, source of funds documentation, which is like wire transfers of money leaving one bank in Canada and coming to your US bank account. They want to understand where did you get that money from?

Was it from your foreign business? Was it from your personal income abroad? Was it from your savings? Was it a gift? They’re gonna look at purchase agreements, commercial leases, financial statements, payroll records, contracts, tax returns, business plans, hiring projections in your business plan. Your evidence should clearly tell the story of where the money came from, where the money went, what the business is doing, why it’s positioned for success.

question of why an E-2 over other categories? Here at Berardi Immigration Law, we love E-2 visas. We do many, many, many of these every day and every year, and it, it doesn’t mean that the other visa categories aren’t great, but this one is pretty attractive, especially for all you Canadians who are thinking, “Oh, man, south of the border is looking nice to me. Sunny Florida sounds good during a cold Canadian winter,” which I get.

We’re in Buffalo. For many Canadians, the E-2 offers benefits that, that other visa categories can’t match. So we have no annual lottery with the E-2. There’s the ability to actively operate a US business, not to be someone else’s employee. There’s renewability, flexibility. Spouses can generally work in the US incident to status, and dependents can accompany you. So for entrepreneurs who want to establish a real business presence in the US, it’s often one of the most practical pathways available.

I wanna touch on one other point we haven’t discussed yet, which is this idea that if you want to be the beneficiary of an E-2, we have to show that you yourself are in the position to develop and direct this enterprise. And what I mean by that is that you have to be able to show that you have either the education or the experience or the skills from one of those two things to effectively lead a business of this nature. So for someone who’s 21 years old and right out of college who studied pharmacy but wants to start a tech company in the US, government’s gonna have a very hard time assessing whether you are a good candidate for this because what practical skills do you have to ensure the success of this company?

You’ve never led a company before, and you’ve never even worked in this field before. Contrast that with somebody who has 10 years experience of building and leading a company who wants to start another company in the US that’s either of that nature or a similar nature, that’s a great case.

What about if you have experience doing one thing, um, in one industry, but you wanna start a business in a different industry? Well, can we make an argument that the skills you have from this other industry are transferable to this other industry? Depending on the answer to that question may dictate whether or not your case will be successful.

Beyond how many employees do I need, how much do I need to invest, the million-dollar question here is can an E-2 lead to a green So unfortunately, the E-2 itself does not automatically lead to a green card in the sense that an investor and an owner of an E-2 enterprise cannot generally sponsor himself for a green card in the way that most employees are sponsored in the United States. But many Canadian investors still eventually pursue permanent residence through other pathways.

Depending on the circumstances, those options may include EB-1 green cards for those with extraordinary ability, national interest waiver applications. If they find another employer who wants to sponsor them for a green card, they can do that as well. If they have family in the US, obviously that’s the best way to do it, and there’s also an EB-five, investment green card that you can apply for as well. And I really recommend that before you make the decision to actively move yourself and potentially your whole family to the US, it’s important that if you want to eventually settle down here long term, you understand what the path ahead will look like and what your objectives need to be in order to make that a reality.

And the best strategy is going to depend entirely on your qualifications, your business, and your long-term goals. So the right investment depends on the type of business you’re operating and whether the business is substantial in relation to the business.

How many employees do I need to hire? There’s no required number. The regulations are silent on that issue. What matters is demonstrating economic growth, business growth, and a company that’s actively working towards success. If you’re a Canadian considering investing in the US, don’t get overly focused on finding the perfect investment amount or employee count. That’s not how successful E-2 applications are el- are evaluated. Instead, focus on, on whether you’re making a meaningful investment in a real business with a credible path towards growth.

If you can demonstrate that, you’re already focusing on the factors that matter most. Again, I’m Gabriella Agostinelli, partner at Berardi Immigration Law. If you found this video helpful, please subscribe, like, and share it with other Canadian entrepreneurs who are considering expanding into the US. And if you have questions about whether your business might qualify for an E-2 visa, leave them in the comments below.

Thank you for watching, and I’ll see you in the next video.